Exactly who is accountable for ID'ing the back of this man as being SA Lem Johns jumping into a Camera Car ??
Hi Royell, Please see below! Thank you for everything! Sincerely yours, Michael
Democracy Dies in Darkness
Subscribe
Sign in
clock
This article was published more than 9 years ago
OBITUARIES
Search Death Notices
Place a death notice
Request a News Obituary
Former Secret Service agent Lem Johns dies at 88
By Terence McArdle
May 11, 2014 at 7:07 p.m. EDT
Lem Johns, with dark hair, stands partially obscured behind Jacqueline Kennedy, right, as President Lyndon Johnson takes the oath of office on Air Force One in 1963. (Cecil Stoughton/AP)
Share
Comment
0
Lem Johns, a Secret Service agent who guarded Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson during the Kennedy assassination, returned on Air Force One to Washington as Johnson was sworn in as president, and later headed Johnson’s presidential security detail, died Saturday at his home in Hoover, Ala. He was 88.
His death was announced by his grandson, Michael Johns, according to the Associated Press.
On Nov, 22, 1963, the day of John F. Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, Mr. Johns was one of three Secret Service agents riding in a convertible behind Vice President Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, in the presidential motorcade. Agent Jerry Kivett drove the agents’ car and monitored radio reports of the parade.
Suddenly, they heard the first two shots.
Though unsure whether he had heard gunshots, vehicle backfire or firecrackers,
Mr. Johns jumped from the security car and made a dash for the car carrying Johnson.
However, after a third shot, the entire motorcade sped up. Mr. Johns, on foot, was left behind on the street.
Rufus Youngblood, the chief agent in the Johnson security detail, used his body to cover the vice president and Mrs. Johnson as their car followed the Kennedy vehicle and a Secret Service car to Parkland Hospital.
Amid the chaos, Mr. Johns climbed aboard a car carrying photographers, then moved to the sidecar of a police motorcycle en route to Parkland. He found Johnson and the other Secret Service agents at the hospital, waiting as surgeons worked on Kennedy. Texas Gov. John B. Connally also was wounded but survived.
When Kennedy died, an unmarked police cruiser took Johnson and agent Youngblood to Love Field where Air Force One waited to fly Johnson to Washington. Mr. Johns, who had been seeking a secure hospital exit for Johnson and Youngblood, had to leave for the airport in another police car. Once at the airport, Mr. Johns screened all those who boarded Air Force One while awaiting the arrival of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy and the casket carrying the president’s body. There were concerns about the possibility of an attempt on Johnson’s life.
I think the driver of Camera Car 1's name is John Holt; it is actually John Hofan. He confirmed right away on 11-22-63 that they picked up a SSA in their car in Dealey Plaza.
From around 54:00 to 56:03 John Hofan, who they call John Holt, gives his live account of picking up SSA Lem Johns in Dealey Plaza.